Guillaume Boivin Mauro Da Dalto Jonathan Dibben Edward King Paolo Longo Borghini Mads Pedersen Fabio Sabatini Peter Sagan
The start of our Spring campaign starts with the Belgium Classic, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Last year Peter Sagan finished 24th here and we hope he can do better this year. Sabatini will be his main helper, while the others are here to control the peloton and get experience on the cobblestones.
Team objective: podium
This year we started our Spring campaign much better than last year. Peter Sagan showed that he has improved a lot over last season and took a great victory at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. After several tries, he finally managed to get away from the peloton with 4 kilometers to go, taking his 4th victory of the season already. Sabatini got to the finish in 20th place, getting a few points for the season ranking.
Enrico Battaglin Francesco Bongiorno Josh Burton Hugh Carthy Moreno Moser Silvio Pennarossa Peter Sagan Davide Villella
We return to the white roads in Tuscany for the Strade Bianche. Last season Sagan took an easy victory here, which we believe he can do again. At least the UCI thinks he can do it as they want us to win this race. If Peter does not have the legs we have other options with our Italian trio Battaglin, Bongiorno and Moser. Silvio will make his season debut here, while he is working towards the Tour de France.
EPIC-UCI Goal: Win
To say that our first Italian race of the season was a disaster is an understatement. Peter felt great again, but he his many attacks didn't get rid of the others, so it would all be decided on the final climb into Sienna. The roads were too small for such a big group though and Sagan got blocked by weak riders (Yes, looking at you Belkin). He finished on the Piazza del Campo in a disappointing 20th place.
While we want to win this race, it will not be easy. Peter Sagan is on the plane to France, so we look to Battaglin if the race ends in a bunch sprint. On the hilly middle section, Moser, Bongiorno and Villella are our riders to try and get away from the peloton. For Burton and Carthy this will be their final race before heading to Spain for the Volta a Catalunya, while the others will stay in Italy for the Tirreno and Milano - Sanremo.
Team objective: Top 10
After a horrible Strade Bianche, we hoped that the next day would go better for us. At the Roma Maxima, our riders took initiative on the hills and while they were not strong enough, Moser took a great 5th place. In a small bunch sprint behind, Enrico Battaglin got a 10th place. This was a good race for us, especially after the Strade Bianche.
The World Tour season has started with the Tour Down Under. While we are very happy with the results, especially the win of Villella on stage 3, the 6th place of Villella in the General Classification is bitter-sweet. It is amazing to see the young rider doing very well, but at the same time it is a little disappointing to miss out on the top 5 goal by 1 place. Bennati also did well with a 7th place on stage 1 and a 2nd place on stage 2.
So, first race of the season, the gravel roads of Strade Bianche in Italy. My relatives were along the road cheering for me, since it wasn't too far away from San Marino. Sagan was one of the, so not the biggest favourite in the race, and I was here to support him.
The dirt and hills ain't my speciality, but I did my best in the first part of the race. In the end I finished in an useless position far behind the winner. Sagan disappointed in 20th. The race was suprisingly won by Mathias von Triesenberg, from the break. I know him very well, we're good friends, we're both the only guys in our countries who know what a bike is.
Alberto Bettiol Alessandro De Marchi Francesco Lasca Mads Pedersen Fabio Sabatini Peter Sagan Brian Vandborg Cameron Wurf
The route of this year's Paris - Nice suits the punchers, which is why we have decided to send Peter Sagan to France. He has a big chance to win the General Classification here, which would give us some solid points toward the team rankings.
Team objectives: Stage win + GC top 3
Stage
Winner
Best Finisher
Place
Time
1
Mark Cavendish
Peter Sagan
7
s.t.
2
Mark Cavendish
Peter Sagan
10
s.t.
3
Alexander Kristoff
Peter Sagan
2
s.t.
4
Daniel Martin
Peter Sagan
8
s.t.
5
Dries Devenyns
Peter Sagan
2
+ 22
6
Bauke Mollema
Peter Sagan
3
+ 9
7
Christian Muriel
Peter Sagan
6
+ 1'16
8
Peter Stetina
Peter Sagan
33
+ 3'12
We came to France for a stage win and to win the General Classification. We came close to accomplish both, but while Peter was very consistent, he never managed to get to the line first. However, with several podium finishes, a 3rd place in the GC and winning the points and young rider jerseys, Sagan scored a good bunch of points for the team.
We come to the Tirreno - Adriatico with a full Italian squad. With Damiano Caruso we have a rider for the GC, while Daniele Bennati will be going for the sprints. On the hilly stages we got a few riders to try and get a victory.
Team Goal: Top 10 General Classification
Stage
Winner
Best Finisher
Place
Time
1
Omega Pharma - QuickStep Cycling Team
Cannondale Pro Cycling
19
+ 38
2
Adrien Hanzen
Daniele Ratto
6
s.t.
3
Mario Guido
Daniele Bennati
5
s.t.
4
Chris Froome
Damiano Caruso
46
+ 4'43
5
Nairo Quintana
Francesco Bongiorno
6
+ 2'19
6
Elia Viviani
Daniele Bennati
4
s.t.
7
Chris Froome
Silvio Pennarossa
13
+ 25
Aside from a few top 10's in the sprints and Bongiorno's 6th place from a breakaway, this year's Tirreno - Adriatico was not what we were hoping for. We came here for a top 10 in the General Classifcation, but our hopes were crushed after stage 4 when Caruso crossed the line almost 5 minutes later than Froome. Ending on a 13th place in the General Classification gives us a bit of hope for the Giro d'Italia. Pennarossa showed his talent in the closing Time-Trial, finishing 25 seconds from Froome, while Moreno Moser won the Mountain jersey.
Still stuck in the middle of some shithole in Argentina, please send help. We've been here for two months and we're all getting extreme cabin fever. Peter Sagan keeps forcing me to wear a wig and a dress so he can fondle me from behind. It's not gay if it happens abroad, right??
I fear for Hugh's sanity. The boy seems to be becoming a zombie with each passing day in the wilderness. Every day we walk around the hotel with the other teams waiting for the organisers to say the next stage can start. We continue waiting...
Catalunya starts soon and I'm still stuck here. Can the UCI please take this race off the calendar because it's been nothing but trouble. I grew tired of the Spanish-speaking people on the TV so I may have, unfortunately, disposed of it out of the 7th floor window. The nightmares did not cease.
Please, send help. You can't abandon us out here, it isn't the 16th Century. Oh no, Peter's knocking on the door again. I don't want to wear the red dress.
Josh Burton
Manager of Bunzl - Centrica
ICL's World Tour Champions and Talented Bottlers
After my season opener in Strade Bianche it was time for three back-to-back races in Italy. Roma Maxima, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-San Remo. Three races with a big history, three races where my family could come and visit me.
The first race was Roma Maxima. I didn't ride myself in the spotlight, but I did some valuable work in the early stages. Moreno Moser finished 5th and Enrico Battaglin 10th, great results for them! I finished in the peleton, 103th to be precise.
Next up was Tirreno-Adriatico, where my abilities would come into play. A team time trial as opener and 10km individual time trial as closer where to be my first highlights of the season. The TTT-result was disappointing, 19th over half a minute behind the winners. My TT-result was better, 13th, 25 seconds behind Froome. Trainers say I'm better in longer TT's, so I'm quite satisfied with this result.
Milano-San Remo was all about bringing Peter Sagan to victory. My work included work in the early stages again, and dropped behind the peleton and finished in a 144th place. Peter finished second behind Kittel. Such a shame
After a long stint in Italy I was underway to Belgium for my final race this season. Four stages in the Three Days of de Panne, including a short time trial which is the reason I'm here. Sagan is here for the cobbles and the sprint.
The first three stages were flat, the first one includes cobbles. A 25th, 33rd and 31st position were due to the work I delivered for Peter, who finished second on the third stage. The fourth stage was a short time trial, about 11 kilometers and pancake flat. Unfortunately, my ride was not registered by any of the cameras on the road. My time however was quite decent, only 6 seconds behind the winner (Vandewalle) and ahead of people like Boom and Phinney, respectable time trialists. It brought me the fifth place, which would be my GC-position as well.
But here comes the worst part: the youth classification. It was a close battle between Grawunder from Champion System and me. It came down to seconds, but I lost by 1 second. 1 SECOND!
Enrico Battaglin Daniele Bennati Francesco Bongiorno Moreno Moser Silvio Pennarossa Daniele Ratto Peter Sagan Davide Villella
Team Goal: Top 3
This is one of the most important races of the season for our team, and with Sagan we have a serious contender for the victory. He has massive support from our best riders. However, in the end it was not meant to be, just like last year. After a massive lead-out from Bennati, who finished 7th himself, Peter did not have the legs to stay ahead of Kittel. A bit of a disappointment, but we got one place closer to the victory, so next year will surely be for us.
Nathan Brown Josh Burton Hugh Carthy Tiziano Dall'Antonia Michel Koch Matthias Krizek Alan Marangoni Cristiano Salerno
EPICUCI Goal: Stage win
Stage
Winner
Best Finisher
Place
Time
1
Carlo Calzone
Cristiano Salerno
108
s.t.
2
Alejandro Valverde
Cristiano Salerno
159
s.t.
3
Thibaut Pinot
Josh Burton
36
+ 3'29
4
Peter Velits
Matthias Krizek
177
+ 29'11
5
John Darwin Atapuma
Cristiano Salerno
169
+ 10'56
6
Francis Mourey
Tiziano Dall'Antonia
119
s.t.
7
Gorka Verdugo
Josh Burton
93
+ 4'34
Some of our riders got back from San Luis just in time to start in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. In the back of our minds we already knew it would be a hard task to get a stage win here, but we had faith in Josh. Our hopes did not stay alive for very long, as already on the first stage our riders were not doing very well. In fact, we only cracked the top 100 twice this race. Stage 4 was the most disastrous. Josh was looking very pale and our whole team stayed around him, fearing for his health. We wanted him to quit, but he would have none of it. Eventually they made it to the finish 30 minutes behind the winner. We did not care much about the rest of the stages after that.
Guillaume Boivin Mauro Da Dalto Jonathan Dibben Edward King Paolo Longo Borghini Mads Pedersen Fabio Sabatini Peter Sagan
A month after our win in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, we return to Belgium for the start of one of the most important periods of the season. While our main focus is on the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris - Roubaix, we would welcome any victory coming before those races. In Dwars Door Vlaanderen we saw a very eager Peter trying to get the win. He never got to the leading duo of Paolini and Vanmarcke though, and he ran out of juice for the sprint. He finished 11th, which still gives us some points for the rankings, and Peter is looking great for the rest of the spring.
Guillaume Boivin Mauro Da Dalto Jonathan Dibben Edward King Paolo Longo Borghini Mads Pedersen Fabio Sabatini Peter Sagan
After last year's 3rd place, we hoped Peter would have a similar result this year in the first cobbled World Tour race of the season. The race did not go as well for us this year though. Peter found himself on the wrong side of the peloton with around 50 kilometers to go. From there he was always chasing the riders up front. Catching Boonen, Cancellara and Vanmarcke is one of the hardest things to do, so it was not surprising Peter could not catch up. In the end he finished a good 8th place, but we feel he could have done better if he was at the front of the peloton. The positive thing is that he managed to win the sprint of his group after spending so much energy already.
Enrico Battaglin Daniele Bennati Guillaume Boivin Mauro Da Dalto Jonathan Dibben Paolo Longo Borghini Fabio Sabatini Peter Sagan
Peter won the bunch sprint in Wevelgem last season. The goal was to repeat that result, but it wasn't meant to be. An elite group formed in the final of the race, but when Cancellara attacked, the rest started looking at each other. When you give Cancellara a few meters, he is as good as gone. After some intense racing for the 2nd place, the group kept getting back together. Sagan had the most energy left of the chasers and easily finished 2nd. It was certainly possible to win here, but we are very happy with this result.
Guillaume Boivin Mauro Da Dalto Jonathan Dibben Francesco Lasca Paolo Longo Borghini Silvio Pennarossa Daniele Ratto Peter Sagan
Stage
Winner
Best Finisher
Place
Time
1
Greg Van Avermaet
Peter Sagan
6
+ 49
2
Sven Nys
Guillaume Boivin
16
s.t.
3
André Greipel
Peter Sagan
2
s.t.
4
Kristof Vandewalle
Silvio Pennarossa
5
+ 6
Our final race of the season part is the Driedaagse De Panne. This race is great for building form for the Ronde and Roubaix. We got two riders here that are aiming for the General Classification. Silvio would need to survive the first stages though, before the Time-Trial. Peter was hoping to get a stage win here, but it did not work out the way he wanted. Stage 1 saw Van Avermaet finishing solo, 50 seconds ahead of the peloton, which included Pennarossa. Stage 2 saw Nys surviving from the break, while Sagan got caught to far behind to sprint to a good place. Peter came closest to the victory on stage 3, where he finished 2nd behind Greipel. The last stage was the Time-Trial and Silvio had not lost any time yet. He rode an excellent Time-Trial, coming over the line in 5th place. This meant he also got a 5th place in the General Classification, while missing out on winning the Youth Classification by one second. Still, it is a great result for him.
We are at the start of the inaugural Youth League, sponsored by Cannondale. The riders will face a hilly terrain today with the start in Rossano Veneto and the finish in Pieve Tesino. First they have to climb the Tenna twice, a 2.6 kilometer hill with an average slope of 6.6%. The final climb of the day is the Castello Tesino, which is 6 kilometers long with an average slope of 9.3%. We'll see a few different sponsors in the peloton today, as some teams did not have enough riders to participate on their own. Ewan and Durbridge from Orica have joined the Aussies of Drapac. The riders from AG2R, IAM and Sojasun are being sponsored by Carrefour. The riders of Movistar, Euskaltel and Caja Rural will be trying to bring Caisse d'Epargne back to life, while the riders from Giant, Garmin and Trek give US Postal a new chance for glory.'
The riders have made it to the start of the 158 km long stage. The favourites today are Barguil, Chaves and Bongiorno. There are a lot of other strong riders though, so it will not be an easy victory.
158 km to go
Straight from the start we see riders attacking. Belkin decides they are away with too big of a group and brings them back.
135 km to go
3 riders are one minute ahead of the peloton, but with new riders attacking they see their gap become smaller.
115 km to go
The 3 riders up front can breathe a sigh of relief as the peloton slows down. Daniel (Carrefour), Arndt (NetApp) and Hepburn (Lampre) have a gap of 2'30.
80 km to go
The breakaway has reached the Tenna for the first time today. They had a gap of a little over 5 minutes, but it is slowly coming down now.
60 km to go
As the 3 riders up front hit the Tenna for the second and last time today, the gap has come down to 3'30. Colombia is doing most of the work, while US Postal, Belkin and Cannondale also help.
40 km to go
The lead of the breakaway has shrunk to 2'20, while they pass through this historic small Italian town. In the peloton it is now BMC and US Postal that do all the work.
20 km to go
With 20 km to go for the peloton, it is now Cannondale and BMC that lead the way. The breakaway is still in front, but with only 1'30 it is highly unlikely that they will stay ahead on the final hill.
10 km to go
The riders take a left turn and start the final climb towards Pieve Tesino, with all the favourites at the front of the peloton. The breakaway is only 20 seconds ahead now and they will be caught shortly.
9 km to go
It is Tom Dumoulin of US Postal that makes the first move. No one else reacts, but Cannondale is quick to try and reel him back in.
7 km to go
The moment Dumoulin is caught, BMC's Yates attacks. Only Barguil, of Belkin seems to be able to follow him, but he has to bridge a gap of 13 seconds. Behind them Chaves, Dumoulin, Formolo and Meintjes are away from the peloton and they have a good gap already.
5 km to go
Barguil has caught up with Yates and they are almost at the top of the climb. Chaves has left Dumoulin and Formolo behind, but he might come to late for the victory.
3 km to go
Barguil tried to crack Yates, but he has failed to do so. Chaves has caught up to them, so it will be a 3-man sprint for the line. Behind these 3 riders, there are several riders fighting for a top 10.
1 km to go
The final kilometer of the race and the 3 riders in front start the sprint. Barguil immediately shows that he is the strongest, while Chaves has no energy left to get closer.
Finish
Barguil wins the first race of the Cannondale Youth League. Yates comes 2nd, while Chaves rounds off the podium in 3rd. Cannondale will be disappointed to see their riders finish in 9th, 10th and 11th place.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Guillaume Boivin
Mauro Da Dalto
Jonathan Dibben
Edward King
Mads Pedersen
Peter Sagan
Silvio Pennarossa
Tour Down Under
Paris - Nice
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
Michel Koch
Matthias Krizek
